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Credit Suisse is expected to pay almost $2.5 billion to settle a probe into how the firm allegedly helped Americans evade taxes, including roughly $700 million to US regulators and approximately $1.7 billion to the Justice Department, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Under tentative terms of a deal still being discussed, the bank would plead guilty to US allegations and pay the Federal Reserve about $100 million and the New York State Department of Financial Services approximately $600 million, these people said. The settlement could come as early as next week.

The fact that the Department of Financial Services stands to receive roughly six times the amount the Federal Reserve will collect shows how significant a force the state agency has become on Wall Street and among its regulatory peers. Benjamin Lawsky, who heads the agency, has publicly pledged to take a tough look at big banks to close what he calls an accountability gap on Wall Street.

The spectre of a guilty plea by a bank has long worried the financial-services industry because such a move could lead regulators to seek to revoke a bank's charter to operate, amounting to a death sentence that could have a ripple effect on the broader economy.

Federal prosecutors and banking regulators have been in discussions to try to ensure that doesn't happen to Credit Suisse, according to people familiar with the discussions. The imposition of stiff penalties from the Fed and New York state is designed to punish the bank but not cripple or kill it, these people said. The firm plans to plead guilty to a criminal charge as part of the tentative deal, but US regulators aren't expected to take any measures that would risk driving it out of business in the US, these people said.

The guilty plea could be entered as early as next week, these people said. Final terms are still being discussed and some of the figures could change before a deal is made public, but the general terms have been agreed to, these people said. It is still possible the tentative deal could fall apart or be delayed, these people said.